Contrary to fathers' rights propaganda, father perpetrators (along with stepdads and caretaker boyfrends) dominate the most vicious crimes against children: sexual assault, abusive head trauma, murder-suicides, crimes involving gun violence, and other similar forms of physically violent/fatal child abuse. And as more dads are providing child care (either because mom is working and can't find other care, or because dads are increasingly getting unsupervised visitation/custody through the family courts), more dads are are being found guilty of basic child abuse and neglect as well.

10/25/15 -Because of severe time constraints, we are no longer able to do regular updates at Dastardly Dads. We will occasionally post articles on general studies on child abuse/domestic violence, news pieces involving abusive fathers in custody/visitation situations. We wil also be updating the Killer Dads and Custody lists, while looking for a better, more accessible platform for the data.

7/11/16 - We started this blog on June 24, 2009--just over seven years. And like all good things, it's time to bring this project to a close. It has served its purpose. We have close to 10,500 postings regarding fathers and child abuse, with hundred of those cases being enabled by the family courts, social services, and others in authority. The documentation is clear. It is now time to stop documenting and put that energy into changing the situation that puts thousands of mothers and children at risk every day.

Saturday, April 30, 2016

After blogging about these kinds of articles for five plus years, it sickens me to see the same crap repeated again and again. Even next to the facts!The analysis by Peter Jaffe is correct and spot on. Then what happens? The idiotic reporter describes the relationship between the parents as "volatile" (like a fire?) when IN FACT what you have is a documented history of domestic violence BY the father AGAINST the mother. This was not a case of two "volatile" people or a "volatile relationship." it was a case of a "volatile" violent man. Let's be absolutely clear about that. And all the charges were "dismissed" by the authorities who consistently refuse to take violence against women seriously, or the tremendous risks that women take in trying to prosecute. But the reporter doesn't go into that either.So what do they do next? They give the violent abuser joint custody. They CONTINUE TO DO THIS long after the evidence has shown that giving abusers any custodial rights just continues the trauma of women and children and continues the abusive behavior. This, as critics have repeatedly pointed out for YEARS, is not a "tragedy." Tragedy is a sad conclusion coming about through fate or some random act of the Gods. This is FARCE. Freaking bloody FARCE. The likely outcome to these HUMAN DECISIONS is absolutely predictable, yet the authorities make the same stupid evil decisions again and again and again. And guess what? A quick search showed that no other news article even MENTIONS that this was a case of a violent man getting child custody. NOT ONE. And that's another way this evil keeps getting perpetuated. Guess what? If you give violent parents access to child victims, the violent parents will continue to be violent. This is not rocket science, folks. Dad is identified as TRENT SPENCER BUTT. See the Killer Dads and Custody List for Canada.

Five-year-old Quinn Butt died in Carbonear early Sunday, and police allege her death came at the hands of her father, Trent Spencer Butt.

The troubling allegation against Trent Spencer Butt is gut-wrenching, and brings with it a host of sobering and painful questions.

Most notably, why would a parent kill his or her own child? Their own flesh and blood?

That's a question being asked by many throughout Newfoundland and Labrador following an unfathomable tragedy in Carbonear on Sunday.

Police believe 37-year-old Trent Butt killed his five-year-old daughter Quinn and then set fire to his modern home on a quiet street in the Conception Bay North town.

He faces charges of first-degree murder and arson, but neither charge has been proven in court.

Dads a greater threat

Experts have long tried to understand why fathers and mothers commit filicide, the term used when a parent kills their own child.

The answer is difficult to come by, but it's clear that dads are more likely to kill children than moms.

That's the case about 60 per cent of the time, says Peter Jaffe, a professor in the faculty of education at Western University in Ontario.

Research also shows that when dads kill their children, they typically do it out of revenge after a partner has left the relationship, and there is usually a history of domestic violence, said Jaffe.

"The way for the father to get back at the mother for getting out of the relationship is to kill the thing that is most precious to her, which is her child or children," Jaffe told the St. John's Morning Show on Thursday.

Moms typically kill infants

Jaffe said mothers who commit filicide tend to do so following a mental health breakdown, such as postpartum depression, and their victims tend to be younger, usually an infant.

He said fathers typically kill offspring that are older.

"You're dealing with extreme circumstances," noted Jaffe, but he said these cases are rarely out of the blue.

A host of tell-tale signs — prior history of domestic violence, actual or pending separation, depression, stalking and threats — are usually noticed by family, friends and frontline professionals such as social workers and police.

"In Ontario when we find a child killed by a parent, on average there's nine different professionals that have been involved in some way … in the prior years leading up to the homicide," he said.

Because filicide is something most people can't even comprehend, Jaffe said many don't know what to do when they see the warning signs.

He said research shows that greater public awareness is needed, and those close to a situation should encourage a troubled parent to seek help.

"It's essential that the community gets involved. You've often heard that it takes a village to raise a child, well it also take a village to protect a child."

A strained relationship

Firefighters rescued Trent Butt from certain death. He's now in serious condition, but is expected to live. Desperate efforts to save Quinn were unsuccessful.

The tragedy followed the marriage breakup of Quinn's parents, and a custody sharing arrangement that sources say was strained.
Court documents also show the relationship between Butt and his estranged wife was volatile, with Butt charged with three separate counts of assault against the mother dating back to 2013 and 2014. All three charges were dismissed.

The tragedy has rekindled dark memories of the death of Zachary Turner 13 years ago.

The 13-month-old and his mother, Shirley Turner, both died after the mother committed murder-suicide by walking into Conception Bay in August 2003.

Turner was facing extradition to the United States on a charge that she killed her former lover two years prior.​

A suspended Mountie continued his assertions in an Ottawa court today that he had been a victim of abuse and that, in a fog; he had seen his son as the enemy during the time in which he beat and confined him. The Crown prosecutor was having none of that. The focus today was finding the truth and that discussion led to a combative day between the Crown and the accused who maintained he was legally responsible for abusing his son but not morally.

The boy was just 7 years old when he moved in with his father and stepmother after his birth mother died. Within 4 months of that move, he would spend his first night sleeping in the unfinished basement as punishment.

"He was out of control from the moment he arrived," the father testified in court today, "I was constantly putting out fires."

The 44-year-old father is a suspended RCMP officer, on trial, along with his 36-year-old wife, for confining his son and denying him the necessities of life. The father is also charged with sexual assault.

The man told court that he had hired a child psychologist to ostensibly deal with his son's behavior. When the doctor suggested that the father was "terrorizing his son", court heard that the father ended sessions.

The accused has maintained throughout the Crown's cross examination that he was a man under duress, driven by the demons from his past to view his own son as a demon.

"I don't know what the hell I was doing,” he told court, “why I beat my son, why I burned him."

He has agreed to the abuse, but is mounting a defense, trying to prove he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder after he says he was raped as child in Lebanon; that he internalized this abuse and saw his son as the enemy.

After 4 years of living in this situation, the son escaped from the chains binding him in the basement and managed to flee the house while rest of family was shopping. He was 11 years old at this point in time and weighed 50 pounds. Doctors at CHEO, who examined him, said he almost starved to death.

When the father returned home and found him missing, he called 911. That was February 12, 2013.

"I’m guilty of this,” he told the 911 operator, “I did bad things with him. I did bad things to him and I regret it."

From here, followed a frustrating exchange between the Crown, trying to prove this man knew exactly what he was doing, and the father maintaining he was living in a fog.

At one point, the Crown presented a 6-foot long piece of wood flooring; similar to what the father admits he used to hit his son.

"Did you hit him on the arm?" the Crown asked.

"I don't know," he answered.

"Did you hit him on the stomach or the head?"

"I don't know," he repeated.

He said he remembers hitting and burning his son but added he didn't rationalize what he was doing. The trial continues tomorrow.

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

We've reported on this case before. Though so many of these cases are just insanely horrible, this one is particularly so. Dad is identified as TIMOTHY RAY JONES JR. Notice, however, that there is no explanation as to who gave this crazy piece of sh** custody to begin with.

The mother of five South Carolina children who police say were killed by their father in 2014 says the state's social services agency knew the father was a threat and did nothing to stop him.

The allegations are part of a lawsuit filed last week by Amber Jones accusing the Department of Social Services of wrongful death and infliction of pain and suffering.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against her ex-husband. Authorities say Timothy Ray Jones Jr. killed his five children — ages 8, 7, 6, 2 and 1 — at their Lexington County home in 2014 and drove around with their bodies in trash bags for nine days before dumping them in an Alabama field.

Jones was arrested in Mississippi after a deputy said he smelled the stench of death coming from the SUV at a traffic checkpoint.

A Social Services spokeswoman declined to comment on the lawsuit, which gives a detailed chronology of Jones' criminal past, including 2001 convictions for drug possession and forgery. It also notes his 2004 marriage to Amber Jones and the subsequent births of their five children.

By 2011, the family lived in Batesburg-Leesville, where, according to the lawsuit, Social Services received a report of child abuse and neglect, piles of trash at the home as well as a report Jones had threatened to shoot a neighbor's dog.
Caseworkers came to the family's home multiple more times that year, even calling law enforcement after Jones became violent and accused a caseworker of "ruining people's lives." But, according to the suit, no action was ever taken to discipline Jones or remove the children.

The complaint documents multiple additional instances in which Jones threatened the children's mother, who in 2012 made a criminal domestic violence complaint against him. The couple ultimately had a fifth child and then divorced in 2013, with Jones being awarded primary custody.

Over the next year, according to the lawsuit, teachers reported abuse claims to local Social Services workers after seeing bruises on three of the five children. A baby-sitter made similar claims. In August 2014, the agency contacted law enforcement, saying Jones didn't want to return his children to public school "because he feared the school would report the beatings."

Three weeks later, Jones picked up all five children from school and day care and killed them at the family home, authorities have said. Four children were strangled, and one was beaten to death.

Many of the claims mirror information in case files previously released by the Department of Social Services. Authorities never found anything serious enough to take the children away, but the documents show Jones as a single father and computer engineer struggling to raise his children.

"Dad appears to be overwhelmed as he is unable to maintain the home, but the children appear to be clean, groomed and appropriately dressed," a case worker wrote Aug. 13, two weeks before the children's disappearance.

Defense attorneys have suggested Jones suffered from mental problems, and an arrest warrant said he feared his children were going to kill him, chop him up and feed him to dogs. A judge in December ordered a psychiatric evaluation, and no trial date has been set.

Keep it up, lads! Great way to show the public what responsible, dedicated fathers you really, really are!. I can just imagine--if you felt entitled to this to the Mayor of London, just think of the bullying tactics you've been pushing on the mother of your kids!http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/father-scales-boris-johnsons-london-7781186Father scales Boris Johnson's London home dressed as Iron Man and takes selfies in custody rights protest

15:29, 18 Apr 2016
Updated 16:04, 18 Apr 2016

By Gemma Mullin , Katherine Clementine

A father has scaled London Mayor Boris Johnson's home dressed as comic book hero Iron Man and took selfies from his balcony in a custody rights protest.

Bobby Smith , 33, was joined by fellow New Fathers 4 Justice member Martin Matthews, to highlight a perceived lack of equality over contact with their children in the event of a divorce.

Mr Smith, who claims to have been denied access to his children for six years, was making his second visit to Mr Johnson's house in Islington, north London, after a previous protest there fell on deaf ears.

He and Mr Matthews hung up banners around Mr Johnson's London home and shouted down to supporters using a megaphone.

"We're doing a protest for father's rights. Boris wants to be Prime Minister and he's pushing himself out as more than just an MP, and more than a Mayor - he's a national figure.

"He's been London Mayor for eight years now and he's done nothing for fathers in the capital - he's done nothing for the poorer areas, not like Islington where we are now."

Mr Smith has climbed onto the roofs of many public buildings, alongside friend Martin Matthews from Great Bookham – including using a ladder to climb onto the roof of Buckingham Palace and scaling the home of House of Commons leader Chris Grayling , in a bid to get his voice heard.

He continued: "I split up with my children's mum eight years ago. Parenting was meant to be split 50/50 but she just stopped me seeing them.

Police were at Boris Johnson's house since 10.40am trying to talk the protesters down

"I've been going through the family court and protesting for years.

"Children are far more likely to commit crime or fall into drug addiction if they haven't got a dad.

"Boris has done eight years as Mayor and he's done nothing to promote change in family law to give a chance to hard-up fathers.

"We're talking about dads who want to see their children like me and my mate who's up here now."

Metropolitan Police have been at the scene since 10.40am.

A spokesperson for the police said: "We were called to Colebrooke Row to reports of protesters at a location.

"Four people were protesting and two had onto a balcony and unfurled a banner.

"Officers attended and there's no arrests at this time."

Mr Smith was still on the balcony at 2pm and police were still at the scene.

He added: "There's load of police here, and an ambulance.

"There's just two of us on the balcony. We've been up here since half 10 and we're going to try and stay for longer but they're trying to get us down."

Mr Smith recently held a protest outside Boris Johnson’s London home but despite the Mayor of London being home he refused to speak to the protesting dad.

He posted something for him to read though his letterbox and warned him: "I’ll just keep coming back till he’s ready to talk. He’ll give in before I do".

Speaking ahead of the protest, Bobby said: “It’s no good sitting at home getting depressed and getting upset at how much you miss your kids. You need to stand up and not accept what has happened.

"There’s no equality for fathers in family law. I want nothing less than a legal presumption of equal contact for a child with their parents if they split up.”

He stood against David Cameron dressed as Elmo in the 2015 general election and is also standing again in the May Sheffield by-election.

Bobby 'Elmo' Smith leader of the Give Me Back Elmo party is also going to campaign for a "Shake it all about" option in the forthcoming referendum for those who can't decide whether they want to be in or out.

The protest outside Boris' home comes as part of a campaign by splinter group 'New Fathers 4 Justice' and Stop the War on Dads.

Neither group are associated with Matt O'Connor or Fathers4Justice UK.

Judge Varlan is a woman-hating idiot who is either willfully ignorant about domestic violence or just doesn't give a sh**. 'Cause he just knows the mother is lying about the father's alcohol abuse and physical violence, cause, well he just knows. Misogynists always "know" that it's the woman who is lying. Actually, Mom is very credible. If she wanted to sound more "convincing," she could have said the father abused the boy as well. In reality, it is not uncommon (at least in the early stages) for the father to abuse the mother but not (directly) abuse the children. (Emotionally, however, he is abusing them by diminishing their caregiver.) That the mother was dependent on him for financial assistance is also reality, and that she tried to let the abuser see the boy is also common. Battered moms really do try to be nice and accommodating. They really do. But apparently Mom couldn't take it anymore so she ran. At a terrible sacrifice to herself. This is not a decision that mothers make lightly. And of course, because abusers are control freaks, he chased her down with the help of the Mexican police AND the U.S. State Department. Gosh, we don't have any drug dealing murderous gangs to worry about anymore? No other international issues of pressing importance? Who knew? Two governments magically cooperate and collaborate to help the batterer track down a battered woman like she was a rabid dog so he reclaim his child/property. So now, the child is actually at very high risk. Daddy has to take on the responsibility of full-time caregiver, when he is a short-tempered abuser with a traumatized child. And, of course, he wants to punish mom in the worst possible way. This is partly what happens when you give never married fathers "rights" over women and children. Sickening. And when you turn the Hague Convention into little more than a "slave catching" operation to benefit abusive men. Dad is identified as EUGENIO GARDUNO GUEVARA.

In the first ruling of its kind in East Tennessee, a federal judge is ordering the return to Mexico of a 5-year-old boy at the center of an international custody battle.

Chief U.S. District Judge Tom Varlan is siding with Mexican father Eugenio Garduno Guevara in a rare case brought under The Hague Convention of 1980 International Child Abduction Remedies Act in a fight over the boy Guevara fathered out of wedlock with Mexican mother Alma Soto Soto.

Soto spirited the boy away from Mexico and into the U.S. illegally in 2013 after the couple, who had been living together and sharing custody, split up. Guevara spent two years tracking down mother and child, using the Mexican police, The Hague Convention treaty, the U.S. State Department and Facebook, before finding the pair living in Knoxville.

The case ultimately landed in front of Varlan, the first time the federal court system here had been tapped to decide under the treaty which country — Mexico or the U.S. — had authority to decide custody.

In his ruling, Varlan noted the treaty did not authorize him to decide which of the two parents was the fittest but rather was designed to prevent parents from court-shopping among foreign nations.

"One of the main purposes of the ICARA is to prevent parents from removing children from the country of their habitual residence to a more sympathetic court in order to have a 'home court advantage' in custody determinations," Varlan wrote.

It will be up to a Mexican court now to decide the boy's custodial fate.

Guevara and Soto had the boy out of wedlock in Mexico in 2010 but lived together with him until March 2013 when Guevara moved out. A month later, the boy and his mother disappeared. Guevara eventually found mother and son via a photograph posted on Facebook, showing Soto and the boy at the Wichita Falls Park in Wichita Falls, Texas. But she disappeared with the boy again. The pair resurfaced in late May 2015 in Knoxville when she sought custody through Knox County Juvenile Court.

Although Varlan did not weigh in on which of the two was most worthy of custody, the nature of the case did require him to consider allegations typically aired in a domestic courtroom. He first had to decide if Guevara had visited and supported his son after he and Soto split.

"In the three-week period of separation when the child was in Mexico, (the father) visited with the child on four occasions, including one overnight visit," Varlan wrote. "(He) also provided (Soto) and the child with some degree of money and food support."

Varlan also had to sort out conflicting claims between the pair. Soto, via attorney Scott Saidak, claimed Guevara was a mean drunk, and the boy would not be safe in Mexico. He denied that.

Varlan didn't buy it.

"While (Soto) submits that (Guevara) had an alcohol problem and abused her in the past, she does not allege that (the father) abused the child," Varlan wrote. "(She) also allowed (him) to visit with the child multiple times when they were separated, and testified that (he) supported the child with food and money during the period of separation, both of which tend to show that plaintiff would not subject the child to serious abuse or neglect if the child were returned to Mexico."

A second case under the treaty is now pending in U.S. District Court. That one involves a father living in London and a Bangladeshi mother living in Knoxville with the couple's twin babies.

A severely underweight child has been turned over to the Department of Family Services and the couple that had been taking care of her has been charged in Circuit Court with child abuse.

Dale L. Roberts, 39, and Dee C. Jurisch, 38, had their initial appearance Monday in Circuit Court in Gillette. He was released from jail Monday on a personal recognizance bond and she was released Tuesday on a $10,000 cash or surety bond.

A doctor who cared for the girl said that her health problems were caused by malnutrition and that she was so hungry she “would have eaten a ‘plate of dirt’ if it would have been placed in front of her” when she was admitted to the hospital, according to court documents.

Police began investigating March 19 when an emergency room doctor said she suspected that a 4-year-old girl had been abused because 20-25 percent of her body was bruised, including her feet, arms, side and knees. The child also seemed to be malnourished and dehydrated.

A woman who had been asked to baby-sit the girl at her mother’s request noticed that the girl “was eating everything she could get her hands on,” according to an affidavit of probable cause filed in the case.

She told police that the child was “skin and bones” and took her to the emergency room. In addition to the bruising, the girl complained of pain in her legs and was reluctant to stand or walk because of pain. She said she had been spanked and thrown on the ground by her father, and that “Mamma Dee,” the woman her father lived with, dragged her and hurt her knees, according to court documents.

Her mother told police that she had not been allowed to see her daughter in more than a month, and when she picked her up March 18 she didn’t even recognize her own daughter.

The child was admitted into Campbell County Memorial Hospital for treatment for malnutrition and suspected abuse.

Four days later, she was getting better, “but was at the bottom of the scale for what is considered a normal growth level (weight and height) for a child her age,” according to court documents.

At that point, a physician had said that all the child’s medical problems were from malnutrition.

She weighed 29.26 pounds, compared to a normal weight of 35.2 pounds at that age, according to the doctor.

“Dr. (Vijaya) Koduri (a pediatrician at Campbell County Health) told me if she would have been given the proper amount of nutrients, she would be at or near a healthy weight with no other medical issues,” Police Detective Robert Hannigan said in the affidavit.

“Dr. Koduri’s opinion was that neglect was the issue and that if she would have remained in the condition she was brought in at, that (the girl) would have died within the month,” according to court documents.

“It was also Dr. Koduri’s opinion that all (the girl’s) medical problems, including the edema in her lower legs, were as a result of malnutrition and not physical abuse,” Hannigan said in the affidavit.

The girl told a forensic interviewer that her dad was mean to her, made her take cold showers and she had to sleep in the hallway.

She said that she was only allowed to drink water while her 3-year-old half-sister got juice, and that the half-sister ate cereal in the morning while the girl watched or sometimes ate bread, according to court documents.

Koduri told police that the girl initially lost weight while under her care because she lost fluid as the swelling in her lower legs — caused by malnutrition and not physical abuse — decreased, according to court documents.

She had gained at least 6 pounds as of April 1 and “appears to be thriving outside the care of Dale Roberts and Dee Jurisch,” according to court documents.

A preliminary hearing has been set for May 3 to see if there is probable cause to bind Roberts and Jurisch over to District Court to stand trial on the felony.

If convicted, they could face up to 10 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.

Sunday, April 17, 2016

As we so often see, the precise custodial rights of dad BENJAMIN BARKER are not spelled out. However, it seems likely he had full custody as there is ZERO mention of the mother. What happened to this boy's mom? It's an important question to ask, as child abusing fathers are very often wife beaters, and vice versa. And this type is the most likely kind of father to pursue and be awarded full custody.

SEQUOYAH COUNTY, Oklahoma - A Sallisaw couple was arrested this week after they were charged with child abuse of his three-year-old son.

Benjamin Barker, 26, the boy's father, and Victoria Barker, 22, the stepmother, were arrested by deputies after Tulsa doctors diagnosed the child with a litany of severe injuries.

KFSM, the CBS affiliate in Fort Smith reports the couple's son had been seen by doctors in November 2015. In an affidavit, doctors said the boy had multiple contusions, a head injury and non-accidental traumatic injuries.

The affidavit also stated that Victoria's actions were "violent" and "non-accidental."

Benjamin Barker is charged with enabling child abuse by injury and Victoria Barker is charged with child abuse by injury. The charges were filed this week after prosecutors got the doctor's report.

Court records show the Barkers have a court appearance set for April 20.

A violent man was granted sole custody of his son because he was deemed to be more capable than the boy's mother, who was rebuked for allegedly trying to turn the child against his father.

Among the reasons the Family Court gave for choosing the father to be sole carer is because he was unemployed and, therefore, could "devote all his time to the care of the child", compared with the mother, who worked part-time.

In an extremely unusual case, Judge Stewart Austin found the parents were so toxic towards each other that it was in the child's best interests to eliminate one from his life entirely.

Judge Austin chose in favour of the father, despite the man having numerous domestic violence convictions, and said the mother's relationship with the boy, who was 10 at the time of the judgment, could be "revived" later in life.

Critics of the Family Court say the 2014 judgment, which is about to be challenged in court, is part of a disturbing trend whereby the court sees a parent who is supposedly alienating the other parent as worse than an abusive parent.

The parents, given the pseudonyms Mr and Ms Perri, have been in and out of the Family Court since their relationship ended in 2009.

Each blames the other for the boy's distress.

"[The child] feels he has to choose between his parents and this pressure is psychologically distressing," a family consultant said in a report relied upon in Judge Austin's judgment.
"The conflict of loyalty he feels is so strong he emotionally decompensates​ and his behaviour deteriorates."

In 2011, at a time Mr Perri was on an apprehended violence order and a good behaviour bond for domestic violence offences, the court ordered the boy live with his father and have supervised visits with his mother.

The boy's behaviour deteriorated to the point where he was severely disturbed and was self-harming, running away from school and hurting other children.

In the most recent judgment, Judge Austin decided to cut all the boy's contact with his mother, including letters and phone calls.

He found that the boy's deterioration was due to the looming court case, rather than the father's deficiency, and it would be exacerbated by disrupting his living situation.

He said Ms Perri's capacity to care for the child was inferior, partly because she worked part-time and did not have a detailed plan for improving the boy's life.

She was also reluctant to believe her son's claim that his older half-sibling had sexually assaulted him, despite the police believing it was probably true.

She removed the half-sibling from their home, but believed the assault could not have happened because the boy was away at the time of the alleged incident.

Judge Austin said violence at the hands of the father, which stopped when the parents separated, was "in the past" and, therefore, was not a "pre-eminent issue".

Speaking to Fairfax Media, the mother said she felt like she had been told to simply "get over it".

"It was like the violence just wasn't relevant," Ms Perri, who has not seen her son in two years, said. "I had to be cross-examined by my ex-husband [because he couldn't afford legal representation] and it terrified me. I couldn't look at him."

She plans to return to court, alleging Mr Perri has contravened one of the orders by not keeping her informed of his current phone number.

The chief executive of the Victims of Crime Assistance League, Robyn Cotterell-Jones, said the Family Court was so out of touch with the effects of domestic violence that a royal commission was needed.

"It makes a farce out of all things supportive if the Family Court sides with the perpetrator and awards the children one tried to protect to the perpetrator," she said.
"When a woman leaves a man because his behaviour ... is unacceptable or criminal, they think they are doing what's right and almost always have naive assumptions that society will support them to be safe."

Durban - A 26-year-old father has been arrested for allegedly killing his 3-month-old baby son, KwaZulu-Natal police said on Thursday.

Spokesman, Major Thulani Zwane, said police received a tip-off and he was arrested on Wednesday night.

He was expected to appear in court on Friday.

On Tuesday he had arrived at the mother’s house in Ingwa­vuma in the KwaMoyana reserve, and demanded to take the baby home with him.

“The mother refused and he became angry, took the child by force and threw her on the floor. The child sustained head injuries and was taken to hospital in critical condition,” Zwane said. He died in hospital.

Earlier this week, a Western Cape father was found guilty of murdering his 3-month-old baby daughter.

Twenty-five-year-old Eugene Plaatjies was subsequently convicted in the Western Cape High Court of child abuse and assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm.

Sentencing proceedings in the case have been set down to start on June 1.

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

A father with this history of domestic violence never should have been allowed any access or visitation with a child. Not clarified here if it was the boy's mother that was repeatedly assaulted, but it seem likely. And of course, still no clarification as to whether visitation was court-ordered (or whether Daddy merely bullied the mother). And if court-ordered, by whom. Dad is identifieid as NATHAN BLAKE MCCRORY.

JACKSON COUNTY -- A 3-year-old child who suffered critical injuries allegedly at the hands of his father is starting to show signs of improvement, according to a family member.

Zander Saucier was taken by ambulance to Singing River Hospital on Sunday and airlifted a day later to USA Women's and Children's Hospital for further treatment. His father, Nathan Blake McCrory, 24, is being held in the Jackson County jail on felony charges of child abuse and marijuana cultivation in the case.

"Zander has opened both eyes," a family member posted on Facebook, adding that the boy had also given a high-five at the doctor's request.

"I asked the doc when he'd be able to tell us what to expect and he shrugged and said now," the relative said. The doctor told the family he expected to the boy to be "just fine" based on his latest movements.

McCrory is due in court at 2 p.m. Wednesday for an initial appearance in his criminal case.

At that time, County Court Judge T. Larry Wilson is expected to set McCrory's bond and read the formal charges against him.

The criminal investigation

Jackson County sheriff's investigators began a criminal probe after Singing River Hospital officials called to report that the boy's injuries were inconsistent with a fall. McCrory had brought his unresponsive son to his grandmother Sunday and said the boy had fallen down the stairs at McCrory's home on Rayford Shumoch Road.

McCrory did not go to the hospital to check on his son, Ezell said.

Sheriff's deputies arrested McCrory on Monday on criminal charges in the case.

McCrory was arrested on the additional drug charge after deputies found what they believed to be marijuana growing in the home.

The sheriff described the boy's injuries as "real bad" and said he had bruising all over his body.

McCrory accused in other assaults

McCrory's arrest Monday was not a first for him.

On April 29, 2013, Ezell said, sheriff's deputies arrested McCrory on misdemeanor charges of domestic violence by simple assault and malicious mischief. In that case, he said, another ex-girlfriend of McCrory's reported he had assaulted her and damaged her vehicle, which included breaking out a window.

In 2011, Ezell said, the same woman called to report she suspected McCrory had caused damage to her vehicle, but she did not pursue charges in the case.

In another incident on Nov. 29, 2014, in Okaloosa County, Fla., sheriff's deputies arrested McCrory on two counts of first-degree battery by domestic violence, both misdemeanor offenses.

According to the affidavit filed in that case, the same ex-girlfriend told authorities she was sitting in the backseat of a Toyota Tundra headed east on Miracle Strip Parkway in Fort Walton Beach when she and McCrory got into an argument.

During the argument, the affidavit said, McCrory "grabbed (the woman) by the hair and started pulling it..."

The truck's driver stopped the truck, the report said, got out and went around to the backseat to try to break up the fight.

McCrory, the report said, started hitting the driver while the girlfriend tried grabbing McCrory by the neck to pull him off the man trying to intervene.

The driver then got back in the truck and started to drive off, the report said, when McCrory reached from the backseat and started hitting the driver again.

JACKSON COUNTY -- A 3-year-old boy is in a Mobile hospital with critical wounds caused by his father, authorities said.

Nathan Blake McCrory, 24, is being held without bond at the Jackson County jail on charges of felony child abuse and manufacturing a controlled substance. He was taken into custody Monday.

Zander Saucier was taken to Singing River Hospital on Sunday because of a reported fall. The staff felt the injuries were inconsistent with a fall and reported their suspicions to the Jackson County Sheriff's Department.

Sheriff Mike Ezell said McCrory, who is not Zander's custodial parent but had him over the weekend, took him to his own mother and told her her grandson had fallen down the stairs at his home on Rayford Shumoch Road in the East Central community.

McCrory's mother called 911 and Acadian Ambulance took Zander to the hospital. McCrory did not go to the hospital to check on his son, Ezell said.

Singing River did initial treatment, then had the boy airlifted to USA Children's and Women's Hospital in Mobile, where he is in the pediatric intensive care unit.

Ezell said Zander had additional bruising on areas of his body, which were consistent with abuse.
Ezell said the boy's injuries are "serious."

"It's bad," he said. "It's real bad."

A prayer vigil for Zander is planned for 5:30 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at Nugent United Methodist Church, at John Clark Road and Old Hwy. 49 in Gulfport.

McCrory was also arrested on the felony drug charge, the sheriff said, after deputies found he was cultivating marijuana.

The investigation began when the Avon man's infant son had bruising and a scratch after spending the day in the father's custody.

By Brendan Krisel (Patch National Staff) - 

April 12, 2016 5:26 pm ET

AVON, OH — An Avon man is facing charges after a child abuse investigation led officials to acquire a search warrant for his girlfriend's home.

Michael Garcia, 33, was arrested Friday after police suspected he abused his 8-month-old son, reported the Chronicle-Telegram. But when police and U.S. Marshals arrested Garcia at his girlfriend's home in Avon they suspected he may also have been in possession of drugs. After acquiring a search warrant officials found four guns, cell phones, crack cocaine and marijuana, reported the Chronicle-Telegram.

Garcia was initially under investigation because his infant son had bruises and a scratch under his eye after spending the day in Garcia's custody, the news website reported. After the boy's grandmother called the police it was discovered that the infant also had marijuana in his system, according to a Lorain police report.

Garcia has been charged with felonious assault, domestic violence, endangering children,trafficking in drugs, possession of a controlled substance, weapons under disability and possession of drug paraphernalia, reported the Chronicle-Telegram. His girlfriend, Brittney Hopkins, 26, was charged with trafficking in drugs.

Garcia is currently being held in Lorain County Jail on $150,000 bond, reported the Chronicle-Telegram.

SAN DIEGO - A father could face up to 14 years in jail if he’s found guilty of endangering his 9-year-old daughter.

The girl was found to be living in a backyard shed with her father and his 29-year-old girlfriend.

Joe Tavolazzi, 60, and his 29-year-old girlfriend Kimberly Bradeen were arrested Thursday along with six other adults at a property on the 12700 block of Lindo Lane in Lakeside.

Team 10 found out Sheriff's deputies responded to 19 complaints against the Lakeside home in the last two years.

One neighbor told 10News, “Nothing good was happening in there.”

Last Thursday, deputies searched the entire property. Their search quickly focused on the shed that contained a shot gun, a .22-caliber rifle and 8.1 grams of methamphetamine.

In court today, deputy district attorney David Williams III, told a judge there was a serious danger to the child. Via closed circuit TV, Tavolazzi pleaded not guilty to child endangerment and other felony charges.

A judge set his bail to $190,000 and ordered him not to have contact with his daughter. Bradeen also pleaded not guilty to similar charges except the one related to child endangerment. She also faces a charge of being an addict in possession of a firearm and a stun gun.

Shortly after deputies made arrests Thursday, a 10News crew went to the home and encountered hostility. One unidentified person used profanity at our crew.

The girl’s uncle, Ted Tavolazzi insisted the girl had access to a bathroom in the house 100 feet away.

“She was well taken care of, that's enough!” said Ted Tavolazzi.

Deputies say despite the conditions, they found the girl to be in decent health. She’s in the custody of Child Protective Services.

Tavolazzi and Bradeen will be back in court on April 20. They will be charged and tried as co-defendants.

DUBAI // Wadeema, the Emirati girl whose death shocked the nation and prompted the creation of the UAE’s new child protection law, was found buried in the Sharjah desert in 2012.

The eight-year-old was tortured to death by her father, Hamad Al Shirawee, and his girlfriend, Alanoud Al Amri.

The couple lived in a studio flat in International City where, between November 2011 and May 2012, they regularly burnt Wadeema and her younger sister, Mira, who was seven at the time, with irons and cigarettes, poured boiling water over them and beat them with sticks and bars.

Wadeema died after one such attack. Al Shirawee had beat his daughter for an hour with a bar, then locked her up in the bathroom before finding her dead at dawn the next day. She was then wrapped in a white cloth and buried in Al Badayer.

Al Shirawee and Al Amri were arrested after Al Shirawee’s brother paid a visit to their flat to check on Wadeema and her younger sister, who were both reported absent from school for an extended period. The uncle discovered through Mira that her father and his girlfriend had been torturing the two girls and that Wadeema had died.

In February 2013, the Dubai Criminal Court found the couple guilty of torturing both girls, causing the death of Wadeema.

The court sentenced Al Shirawee to death, later reduced to life in prison on appeal. Al Amri was also sentenced to life.

My sister was lucky when her husband tried to kill her 18 months ago. As crazy as that sounds, it’s true. That attack against her life gave her courage to finally call for help and escape nearly two decades of abuse. Hearing this story devastated us, her loving family who suspected for decades but hoped it was just our imagination, but it also made us whole again by allowing us back into her life.

Before escaping through a window, she tried to calm her kids, my 11-year-old niece and screaming, crying 6-year-old nephew, who had just witnessed his father strangling his mother. “Who knew your own dad could turn out to be a bad guy?” he asked. As she waited outside in the freezing cold Grafton night, hiding in the dark in her pajamas, for the one and half hours it took the police to arrive after she called for help, safety seemed so far away.

After a nightmare of months on the run, moving with her kids from one safe house to another, my sister was also luckier than many survivors of domestic violence to hear her abuser proclaimed “guilty” on several counts in a courtroom, further validating her choice to finally escape and save her family from a monster.

But as anyone who’s been through a court case involving family violence can tell you, the story doesn’t end with the criminal verdict. Her attacker will likely be going to jail, but he’s still a free man throughout the sentencing and appeal process. Another year or more of hiding from the man who promised to kill her if she ever told.

With the next hearing came another judge, to decide if and how often she’d have to bring her kids to see a man that terrified them all. She was warned that supervised visitation was the most likely ruling, and was the best order she could hope for. Although she still feared for her life and the safety of her children, asking for no visitation at all was likely to get her branded as an “unreasonable” parent, and risked the judge awarding unsupervised visitation.

Just like that, she was pushed back into a compromise of keeping her kids at risk to avoid a potentially more serious and deadly consequence. This is how our court systems re-victimize survivors of domestic violence, every day.

In domestic violence cases, there are usually at least two judges involved, sometimes three. The criminal judge oversees the criminal elements of the case including orders of protection/restraining orders, charges of violent behavior, etc.; their driving motivation is typically perpetrator accountability and victim safety. The family court judge oversees matters of custody and visitation; their driving motivation is typically ensuring equal access to children, if it can be done safely. If Child Protective Services gets involved, there can be a third judge whose focus is typically on child safety and best interests.

These disparate motivating factors and separation of access to various case specifics often results in frustrating rulings. These fractures in our court systems are leaving victims unsafe and children exposed to potential harm.

My fierce niece sits outside the visitation room every week, refusing to see the man who hurt her mother. My nephew enters hesitantly, looking for the good-behavior version of his dad, trying to figure out the answer to the question he asked the night of his father’s last attack: Who knew your own dad could turn out to be a bad guy?

It’s overwhelming for already traumatized victims to go through our court systems. Those who feel completely unsafe by court mandates abandon trust in the system and flee, with or without their children. This, in turn, can result in charges against them for either kidnapping or child abandonment. It’s a lose-lose scenario for these survivors, even after they reach out to ask for help.

About a third of all reported violent crimes are cases of family violence. It is a significant enough problem to warrant its own process. And in some courts, that’s exactly what is happening.

In Portland, Oregon, family courts look very different. They follow a “One Family/One Judge” model where a single judge, familiar with the unique challenges of families and children exposed to domestic violence, is presented with all relevant information pertaining to a family. That one judge is empowered to make a timely ruling, weighing the safety and best interests of all parties.

Portland is one of four cities selected for participation in the Family Court Enhancement Project, a collaborative project of the Office of Violence Against Women, National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, the Battered Women’s Justice Project and the National Institute for Justice. These courts are pioneering new approaches in making custody decisions.

According to a press release announcing the project, it seeks to address “concerns from domestic violence survivors, advocates, and court staff that family courts are struggling to adequately consider the physical and emotional safety of children (and their parents) in child custody cases where domestic violence is present.” This is just one initiative of domestic violence court reform.

Several other courts and lead judges have adopted the NCJFCJ’s Project ONE approach, a holistic multi-court collaborative model that puts the family at the center to achieve best outcomes. The key principles of Project ONE include: One Family-One Judge; just and timely decisions; respect; collaboration; system accountability; victim safety and empowerment. This is what it looks like to rebuild a broken system.

Other communities are calling for and creating, a better way. New Hampshire children and families deserve a better way, too. Let’s look at what is working in other communities and ask for help in bringing their successes home to our own courts. It will take those directly affected by the failings of the system and the support of people outside of this traumatic cycle to step up, speak up and lift up our brave survivors.
When I hug my sister now, I do it tightly, trying in some way to keep her safe.

When I hug my niece and nephew, I do it gingerly, as if they might break. But I know that they are stronger than all of us. And when they get around to ruling the world, I have no doubt they’ll do it better than we ever did. Until then, we’re all waiting on the courts.

Crystal Paradis is a writer, feminist, marketing professional and serial community organizer. She lives and works in Portsmouth and can be reached at cfparadis@gmail.com.

A 16-year-old Idaho boy who murdered his abusive, zombie-obsessed father before brutally stabbing his autistic brother to death, will spend 20 years behind bars.

After a jury found Eldon Gale Samuel III guilty of first-degree and second-degree murder charges in late January, a Kootenai County judge slapped the teenager with two concurrent sentences Friday.

Eldon will spend the next two decades in an adult prison, rather than a juvenile facility, looking back on the night of March 24, 2014. At age 14, he riddled Eldon Samuel Jr. with bullets before moving on to Jonathan Samuel, 13. Eldon shot him repeatedly and then hacked his kid brother to death as the scared child cowered under a bed at their Coeur d’Alene home.

The teen reflected on his actions during a sentencing hearing Friday afternoon.

“I’m not the same person I was two years ago,” KXLY-TV reported Eldon as telling Judge Benjamin Simpson. “I feel like a whole new person, but that doesn't excuse what I did."

He acknowledged killing his little brother, who he referred to as “Johnny.”

Mental health experts believe parental neglect and a dysfunctional home life with his doomsday prepper father contributed to signs of reactive detachment disorder in Samuel, the Spokesman Review reported.

During the trial, the victim’s estranged wife, Tina, said the elder Samuel planned to take his sons into the mountains to train against a zombie apocalypse.

Eldon shot his father in the stomach and pumped three more bullets into his head to prevent him from reanimating into the flesh-eating undead, a defense attorney argued in court.

As usual, no explanation as to how dad JAMES ANTHONY COLLINS got access to this child, what his rights are (full custody? joint?), how he got them, who gave them to him, whether he had a previous history of violence with this child's mother, or even what happened to this girl's mother.A custodial mother is nearly always held responsible for "failure" to protect against a violent boyfriend, even if the boyfriend is also beating her or making death threats if she goes to the authorities. However, custodial fathers almost always play the Clueless Daddy card and get off.

LAS CRUCES - A father and his girlfriend pleaded not guilty to child abuse charges on Monday in 3rd Judicial District Court. The girlfriend allegedly hit the man's 12-year-old daughter with a toy lightsaber.

James Anthony Collins, 50, and his girlfriend, Julia Torres, 25, were indicted March 17 and charged with two counts of child abuse not resulting in death or great bodily harm, a third-degree felony, online court records show.

Collins and Torres appeared before District Judge Mary W. Rosner for arraignment on Monday. They both pleaded not guilty to the two charges.

Torres allegedly struck Collins’ daughter with the handle of a toy lightsaber, according to the 3rd Judicial District Attorney's Office.

The girl said she told Collins about the incident and other allegations of abuse, but reported to authorities he did nothing to stop it. Torres has denied hitting the victim with the toy, the Sun-News previously reported. But she admitted to having anger issues and using a baseball bat to twice break her boyfriend’s arm.

The abuse, which was reported to the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office, is alleged to have occurred between May 2014 and December 2015 in Vado.

Torres was arrested in connection to the charges. She has since been released from the Doña Ana County Detention Center on her own recognizance, online court record show.

On Monday, she was given a $3,000 unsecured bond. Collins, meanwhile, has until Friday to post a $3,000 secured bond. He was not arrested. His attorney argued for an unsecured bond, but the judge did not grant the request.

If convicted as charged, Collins and Torres could face up to three years in prison for each count.

Prince George's County Police say the father of a 2-year-old has admitted killing the child and her mother, an elementary school teacher.

By Deb Belt (Patch Staff) -  April 1, 2016 6:27 pm ET

UPPER MARLBORO, MD — The father of a two-year-old girl he reportedly gunned down – angered by a court order to pay child support – was formally indicted Friday in the child’s death, as well as her mother’s murder.

NeShante Davis, 26, and her two-year-old daughter, Chloe Nichole Davis-Green, both of Fort Washington, were shot to death Feb. 2.

Daron Maurice Boswell-Johnson, 25, of Forestville, was indicted by a grand jury with two counts of murder, plus two counts of use of a firearm during a crime of violence.

Prosecutors say Boswell-Johnson lay in wait for Davis in her apartment’s parking lot, the pair argued, and he shot the mother and daughter.

“This is really the unspeakable and the unthinkable, that you would have a parent who executes their own child,” John Erzen, a spokesman with the Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Office, told WTOP.

Police said Boswell-Johnson has admitted his involvement in the mother/daughter homicide.

He is charged with two counts of first- and second-degree murder.

Co-workers, friends, family and parents from Davis’ school gathered in February to remember her as a hard-working mother who graduated from Bowie State University to pursue her dream of being a teacher.

Davis was in her first year as a second-grade teacher at Bradbury Heights Elementary School in Capitol Heights.

“I’m a teacher here and she was a wonderful person,” Judy Pirnia told FOX DC.

And while they mourned Davis’ violent, untimely death, and that of her young daughter, many attending the vigil spoke of sharing love.

“It’s amazing how much love in this world. She had much love. A lot of people showed love toward her and her baby,” said Justin Walls, a cousin of Davis, according to WUSA.

The suspect remains in jail without bond. Boswell-Johnson faces life in prison if convicted in the shootings.

A man who bashed his partner and held a samurai sword to his daughter's chest has been granted access to the nine-year-old following his release from jail.

The long-running dispute in the Family Court has incensed anti-violence advocates, who say the court still has a poor understanding of domestic violence and is too often granting access when there has been a history of violence.

It comes amid calls to nationalise the recommendations from Victoria's landmark Royal Commission into Family Violence report released during the week.

It recommended an overhaul of the entire court system, including the creation of specialist family violence courts.

A photograph showing the injuries inflicted upon a domestic abuse survivor who was later told that the man who bashed her should be allowed to visit their daughter.

Given the pseudonyms Ms Tindall and Mr Saldo, the couple from Sydney have been bitterly fighting over parenting orders since their relationship ended in 2008.

The court had ordered weekly paternal visits but, in August 2010, Ms Tindall suddenly stopped dropping the child at meetings because she had given evidence against Mr Saldo in his criminal trial for bashing her, tying her to a chair and holding a sword at the child in their Sydney home in 2007.

Graphic photographs tendered in the District Court showed bruising sustained by Ms Tindall, 34, when her then partner repeatedly punched her because he believed she had tried to cheat on him.

He pleaded guilty during the trial and was sentenced to at least two-and-a-half years prison.

Ms Tindall was convicted in 2013 of 20 breaches of the parenting orders because Justice Stewart Austin believed the criminal trial didn't constitute "a change in the family dynamic" that would warrant her halting weekly visits.

"The father's decision to publicly admit his past violent behaviour changed nothing about the history of the parties' relationship," he said, in a judgement that was later overturned by the Full Court.

After being released on parole in 2014, Mr Saldo, 38, applied to have his regular visits reinstated.

He expressed no remorse, saying he was pressured into pleading guilty and didn't commit the offences.

The child was interviewed by a family consultant and asked what she wanted to happen, to which she said she knew her father had hurt her mother but "I would be upset if I didn't get to see him".

Accordingly, Justice Margaret Cleary ordered in January that monthly visits at a supervised centre start, building up to fortnightly visits.

She praised the father for his "positive conduct... stability and lawfulness" in prison and noted that he intended to apply to have his conviction acquitted.

He has not filed an appeal more than two years later.

She admonished Ms Tindall for "avoiding time between the child and the father for her own reasons, which do not relate entirely to the child".

"The child is entitled to come to her own judgement about the father," she said.

Judgements issued throughout the eight-year dispute show the court's tendency to side with Mr Saldo.

Initially, child psychologist Dr R said he thought the mother was was making up the allegations, evidenced in her "disproportionate distress" and calculated manner.

An academic expert gave evidence that the mother, like many domestic violence victims, may have been acting in ways that seem irrational to reasonable people because of the abuse suffered.

When Mr Saldo pleaded guilty, Dr R issued a mea culpa, saying he had never been more wrong in his 20 years of report writing.

Former Australian of the Year and domestic violence survivor Rosie Batty, whose son was murdered by his father during a contact visit, told Fairfax Media she intends to turn her focus to the Family Court this year.

During a Senate inquiry last year, she singled it out as her "biggest area of concern", saying violent parents were too often being granted access to kids.

"There is a total disregard or a total ignorance of family violence being an issue," she told the inquiry. "You're viewed in court as likely to be lying to manipulate the system."

In a feature on the Family Court published in the Monthly in November, reporter Jess Hill found that judges were often deciding that access to an abusive parent was better than no access at all and that a parent supposedly 'alienating' a child from an abusive parent was possibly a greater threat.

Friday, April 1, 2016

Another father who shouldn't have had any custody/visitation rights. As often happens, no word on his past history of violence, whether his access was court-ordered (and if so, by whom), or the existence of a grieving mother. Dad is identified as THOMAS HARRISON JR.

Durham, N.C. — A Durham father has been charged with felony child abuse after his 8-year-old son died at a Raleigh hospital Sunday night.

Thomas Harrison, Jr., 31, of 4922 Old Page Road in Durham, was arrested and charged Monday.

Investigators said that Jonathan “MileMile” Miles Pittman was abused while staying with Harrison at his Durham apartment over the weekend. A search warrant stated that Pittman was complaining of stomach pain and had vomited several times when he was hospitalized.

An obituary for Pittman, who was a third grader at Wake Christian Academy, said that he loved sports and video games, as well as remote control cars and robots.

“Jonathan was full of joy and a blessing to everyone he met. He had a sweet heart and always looked for ways to help those around him,” the obituary said. “He always had a smile on his face and enjoyed the simple things of live, such as taking his shoes and socks off and throwing them anywhere, frequently in multiple locations.”

Harrison was being held at the Durham County Jail under a $1.5 million bond. His next court appearance was scheduled for April 19.

"Earlier this week, we were made aware of the unexpected death of one of our elementary students. Our school is a big family, and we are heartbroken. Currently we are focused on ministering to our students and helping them during this very difficult time," Mike Woods, head of Wake Christian Academy said in a statement Thursday night. "We are praying for the family and ask for the community to do the same. We trust our God and His love for us. While we don’t always understand His purpose, we know He has a perfect plan for each of our lives."

Authorities said they are waiting on a ruling from the state Medical Examiner to determine if charges against Harrison will be upgraded.

A funeral for Pittman was scheduled for Friday in Raleigh and a service honoring his life was scheduled for Saturday in Durham.

Investigators: The toddler swore at his father and refused to go to sleep

Police said Courtney Craig eventually admitted to attacking his son after investigators questioned him.

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A 23-year-old Douglas County man, accused of killing his 2-year-old son, said the toddler called him the “b-word,” which enraged him, Channel 2 Action News reported Thursday.

Courtney Chauvez Craig confessed to beating his son in anger, the station reported.
King Davis, 2, of Louisiana, was visiting his father March 1, when he was found unresponsive in Craig’s Millwood Park apartment, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported.

Adults in the apartment called 911, but the toddler was dead when officers arrived.
Craig was taken into custody because of the suspicious nature of the death, police said.

“Coming out of the shower, the child called him a b***h, and while he was aware of the child’s language in the past, he didn’t take kindly to the child using that term to him.

Also he refused to go to sleep and that angered him more,” said Douglas County Sheriff’s Investigator Jay Davies.

Physical evidence showed the boy had bruises on his torso and abdomen, Davies said.

“There was a bite mark on the child’s shoulder, on his back,” Davies said in court. “There were also contusions behind the ears, which is common in child abuse cases when a child is hit in the head.”

At first, Craig told investigators that his son got sick and may have had an allergic reaction after eating at a seafood restaurant, Channel 2 reported.

But after further questioning, Craig admitted to attacking the boy.
“He acknowledged biting the child,” Davies said. That he punched him in the stomach and the chest.”

The investigator said the medical examiner found the toddler had several broken ribs, Channel 2 reported.

King’s mother, Shovannie Davis, was in the courtroom, according to the station.
“I couldn’t bear with it, that’s why I had to step outside,” she told reporters. “Just hearing something like that was done to my child hurt me.”

She said the boy’s father never demonstrated any abusive behavior toward her their son in the past, according to Channel 2.

King’s grandmother said she felt depressed before, but now she felt angry.
“I want justice for King,” Spanky Davis said. “I want justice to be served.”

Craig did not enter a plea during his first court appearance, according to Channel 2.